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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to help house local teachers

Fund will support Silicon Valley educators to buy homes near their workplace

by
Elinor Aspegren / Palo Alto Weekly

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged $5 million to create a down payment support fund that will assist teachers who work in three Peninsula school districts to purchase homes. Photo courtesy Facebook.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced the investment of $5 million to create a home down payment support fund through a startup for educators who work in the Redwood City, Ravenswood City, and Sequoia Union High School districts.

The fund, created with Landed — a San Francisco-based organization that provides down payment assistance to educators buying homes — will aim to help at least 60 educators in the three districts to buy homes near their workplaces, where Silicon Valley's tech boom has made home prices otherwise out of reach of these critical community members.

"More broadly, our hope is that our partnership with Landed will help create a sustainable model to help make homeownership a reality for more educators and others at risk of getting priced out of the communities they serve," the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative [The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative posted on Facebook.

According to a blog post by Landed, any proceeds generated from this fund will be continually reinvested into "helping more educators access homeownership as a housing option."

"This investment from CZI represents an important milestone for our company," the blog post said. "We hope that more philanthropic organizations and community investors across the country join in to test this approach in the communities they care about, wherever they may be."

The investment will support up to half of a down payment (but no more than $120,000), for the purchase of a primary residence. Landed makes money when the house is sold or refinanced and owners share up to 25 percent of the appreciation or depreciation.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, who announced its creation in December 2015 with the pledge to give away 99 percent of their shares in the company — currently worth $45 billion — to charitable organizations.

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